Chapter 79

Nowadays, it’s said that a true gentleman does not rejoice excessively in material gains or feel overly sad about personal losses. Therefore, Mu Yunchuan’s achievement of winning third place in the county exam was also quite understated.

This year’s top scorer, Song Yao, was once a praised child prodigy. However, since Mu Yunchuan arrived, he had been overshadowed until today when he finally regained his former glory, no longer living in the shadow of Mu Yunchuan.

So, Song Yao also tried to appear indifferent and unconcerned today.

Since the first place was already taken, even though Wei Shu, who got second place, was feeling happy, he had to suppress his excitement.

Seeing the smiles on Shen Cui and the others’ faces, Wei Shu could finally smile freely.

After getting on the carriage, Mu Er Pang specially handed him a cup of tea with both hands, “Quick, let the second-place winner of the county exam have a sip of my tea and share my luck.”

The title of “second-place winner of the county exam” was of course made up by Mu Er Pang himself, and Wei Xi’s eyes flashed with a hint of mischief, “I wonder where our second-place winner would like to celebrate? The head of the academy has spoken, so today we’ll follow your arrangements.”

This made Wei Shu laugh uncontrollably and he raised his hand as if to hit them, finally settling down with these lively junior brothers.

“For the celebration, there’s no need for extravagance. Let’s just buy a few dishes and eat at the academy.”

Today was Wei Shu’s turf, so naturally, they would listen to him.

The coachman turned the carriage towards the restaurant Wei Shu often visited.

The dishes here were expensive, so Wei Shu didn’t let Shen Cui get off the carriage and went to order a few hot dishes himself.

This made Shen Cui feel a bit embarrassed. She hadn’t planned to save money today and had brought all her savings with her.

“Let him go.” Wei Xi whispered, “He’s feeling a bit upset.”

The twins understood each other without words. Shen Cui took a look at Wei Shu’s data and saw that his mood value was not particularly high.

When she looked over in the morning when the results were announced, his mood value was quite high, so she knew he did well in the exam. She went to check the results and then waited outside Qingzhu Academy to pick him up.

That was what happened in Qingzhu Academy.

Wei Shu didn’t want to mention it, and Shen Cui didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask. Later, when the food was ready and they returned to the academy, Shen Cui kept an eye on Wei Shu’s mood value for a while. Seeing his mood gradually improve, she didn’t worry anymore.

Wei Shu not only bought dishes but also bought some fruit wine. This kind of wine could also be drunk by children, and Mu Er Pang had his first drink in life.

With good food, good wine, and Wei Shu now able to talk about the exam content specifically, Mu Er Pang and Wei Xi listened as Wei Shu explained the exam content. This lunch lasted from noon until dusk.

The fruit wine, even though it had a low alcohol content, was still alcohol. Lao Buyu, who loved to drink a few sips as if it were water, could handle it, but the three young men ended up lying on the table unable to get up.

Lao Buyu didn’t let Shen Cui intervene. He carried each of them to the kang and took care of them.

Zhou Shi was responsible for cleaning up the dishes. Shen Cui went back to her room, accessed the system, and saw that the task rewards had been settled. The system showed that it was upgrading, which could take as short as a month or as long as two months. Most functions would still be available during the upgrade, but it wouldn’t issue mainline tasks for the time being.

However, just like the last upgrade, she would only know what specific upgrades were made after the process was complete.

The last upgrade added a voice service, which was very convenient.

Since the system included the upgrade as a task reward this time and it would take so long, it was obviously going to be a major upgrade.

【962464, what exactly is being upgraded? Can you give me a hint?】Shen Cui was very curious and wanted to get some information.

But there was no response for a long time.

Well, this update directly removed her most frequently used voice service.

But this also gave Shen Cui a direction. Maybe the upgrade was to 962464 itself?

It was still a good thing, but suddenly losing someone to chat with at any time made Shen Cui feel strange.

Fortunately, her daily routine was to be a switch and study companion at the academy. With one less form of entertainment, she could focus on her work.

After the lively celebration, the three young men woke up with hangovers the next day, and Wei Shu also discussed their plans with them.

He did well in the county exam this time and was feeling confident, so he planned to take the prefectural exam in April. As for the imperial examination that followed, it was held every three years, and since it was just held the previous year, they would have to wait until next year.

This result did not surprise Shen Cui. Later, the three young men whispered to each other for a while.

As their relationship grew closer, they had a habit of whispering to each other. Shen Cui usually wouldn’t inquire about the secrets between the young men, so she deliberately didn’t listen.

But then Mu Er Pang pulled Shen Cui aside and told her about their conversation.

Mu Er Pang said directly, “Just now, Big Brother Wei asked Junior Brother when he was planning to take the stage.”

Previously, the Wei family was afraid that Wei Xi’s body couldn’t handle the pressure of the exams, so they didn’t plan for him to participate.

But with his major health issues resolved and without the need for the Wei family to say anything, Wei Xi himself had plans to take the exam.

The Wei family was wealthy, but their family wasn’t particularly prosperous, and their minor commercial background wasn’t considered much in official circles. The two brothers supporting each other was the only hope for reviving the family.

“What did Xiao Xi say?”

“Junior Brother said he’s preparing to take the exam next year and then take the academy exam with Big Brother Wei. As for the future, after that, I’ll be the only one left. Mother, what do you think about me taking the exam the year after next?”

So, the chubby son was conflicted about this.

It made sense. The system had her choose classmates for the chubby son to have healthy competition with.

Seeing everyone she knew preparing for the exams one after another, Mu Er Pang also felt eager to give it a try.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he scratched his head and said, “But others study for six or seven years before preparing for the exams, while I’ve only studied for three years… Am I overestimating myself?”

Actually, with the time advantage, studying for three years was probably equivalent to studying for six years, but Mu Er Pang didn’t know this, so he was unsure.

“Why worry so much? If you want to take the exam, just practice. If you pass, great; if not, it’s just practice. Have you forgotten our academy’s motto?”

Mu Er Pang thought about it and realized that Wei Shu had just told him that during the last exam, there were not only young men but also adults and even seniors. He was young and had studied for a short time, so there was no need to put so much pressure on himself.

After silently reciting the academy’s motto once again in his heart, Mu Er Pang solemnly said, “Then I want to give it a try!”

After that, it was time for Wei Shu to prepare for the prefectural exam. During this time, those who were going to take the stage next could manage their time freely to review, without the need to attend classes. If they encountered any problems, they could consult the head of the academy individually.

But for some reason, every time Wei Shu organized his questions and went to find the head of the academy, it always happened that Song Yao was also there.

The head of the academy clearly had high hopes for the county’s top scorer, Song Yao, hoping that Qingzhu Academy could produce another ‘top scholar,’ so whenever the two met, Wei Shu would always be the one who had to wait.

Excluding the time spent traveling to the prefectural city, the preparation time was actually only about a month, so every second counted. Although Wei Shu didn’t mind waiting a little longer, as the number of times increased, Song Shusheng and the others, who had become increasingly close to Wei Shu, couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied.

Seeing that Song Yao, who was usually so diligent and eager to learn, now seemed so eager to occupy the head of the academy’s time, they felt something was amiss.

The one who was enthusiastic about designing clothes was named Song Li. Although he was related to Song Yao, even though they were separated by several rooms, Song Yao had to call him “cousin.” They both passed the exam together.

As a friend trying to help Wei Shu, and seeing that a conflict was about to arise, he, as Song Yao’s cousin, wanted to resolve the matter. So, he went directly to Song Yao and advised him, “You and Wei Shu have been classmates for many years, and you’re about to take the stage together. There’s no need to create so many problems. Can’t everyone just get along peacefully?”

He didn’t say anything, but Song Yao was still unhappy. He had never liked his cousin, who was ruining his life with his obsession with material things. Now that he was feeling successful, he was even less polite.

“If Wei Shu got second place, it was just luck. If a few people hadn’t been unstable in their minds and had performed poorly after being promoted, he might not have even made it into the top three. The head of the academy values me, so he’s willing to guide me. Why is my cousin talking to me about this? Why not talk to Wei Shu and let him realize for himself, so he doesn’t overestimate himself and compete with me?”

Even though they were relatives, Song Li was angered by this remark and retorted, “Seeking guidance from the head of the academy is every student’s right. How does that equate to competing with you, let alone overestimating oneself? We’ve known each other since childhood, don’t make me guess your thoughts. You let Mu Yunchuan suppress you for so many years, and now that you feel triumphant, you want to take it out on Wei Shu, using the excuse of his past friendship with Mu Yunchuan?”

Song Yao’s expression became somewhat unnatural upon hearing this, confirming Song Li’s suspicions.

“So what if I’m taking it out on him? Cousin, don’t forget, one stroke cannot write two ‘Song’ characters. You shouldn’t overstep your bounds!”

“If you truly have the ability, you should aim for the future. After passing the prefectural and academy exams, you should continue in the prefectural school and establish yourself and beat Mu Yunchuan himself, rather than trying to undermine those who are friendly with him. What kind of man are you?”

Their voices were controlled at first, but as the argument escalated, they both raised their voices. Soon, others gathered to watch.

Song Yao couldn’t bear the humiliation and pushed Song Li.

Song Li, being tall and strong, easily blocked him without moving, while Song Yao, lacking strength, fell over.

The commotion attracted the attention of the head of the academy.

The cousins were summoned.

The dispute between the two, caused by Wei Shu, quickly spread. Wei Shu and other close friends hurried to find the head of the academy.

By the time they arrived, the head of the academy had already dealt with the two.

They saw Song Yao walking out proudly with his hands behind his back, followed by the disheartened Song Li.

Upon inquiry, they learned that the head of the academy had scolded Song Yao but only punished Song Li, accusing him of causing trouble in the academy, suspending his classes for a month, and requiring a several-hundred-word self-criticism.

The others were even more dissatisfied. “We asked around, and it was clearly Song Yao who struck first. Why was only he punished?”

There was no need to ask; everyone knew the answer. It was because Song Yao was currently in the spotlight and was about to take the next exam.

Wei Shu remained silent, feeling a bit disheartened.